Childhood head injury linked to range of adult health problems

Conclusion This is an important study, but the more alarming headlines over-state the absolute risks of problems in adulthood following on from a childhood head injury. The majority of people who'd had a head injury didn't have any of the problems studied, and the overall risk of death by age 41 – the outcome that got most press attention – was 1.6% – only 0.2 percentage points higher than for the unaffected siblings of children with head injury. The study has a number of strengths: it is very large has a long follow-up period the Swedish database records are thought to be accurate it includes figures about siblings of children with head injury, helping to account for some of the differences seen with family upbringing, although they can't account for everything Some experts questioned whether neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might increase both the risk of head injury and of the adverse outcomes in adulthood. However, the researchers say they took account of psychiatric and neurological conditions that occurred before age 25, and that this did not affect the results. As various experts have warned, the risk of head injury should not be used as a reason for children not to take part in activities such as sports. We don't know from the study whether the injuries were sports-related, and we do know that physical activity has many benefits, including in the fight against childhood obesity. Perhaps the most...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Mental health Pregnancy/child Source Type: news